Station-indicator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. F. HARTIGAN. STATION INDICATOR.

No. 448,147. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

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STATION INDICATOR. y No. 448,147. Patented Mar. 10,1891.

Wim/Leona@ @13 191:5/ Hom/m130 JOSEPH F. HARTIGAN, OF SALEM, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO M. A. RIFFE d: OO., OF ROANOKE, AND G. lV. ARGABITE, OF LYNOHBURG, VIRGINIA.

STATIONHNDICATOR.

SPEGIFIOATIONformng part of Letters Patent No. 48,147, dated March 10, 1891.

Application filed April 5, 1890. Serial No. 346,653. (No model.)

To caf/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. HARTIGAN, of Salem, in the county of Roanoke and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Station-Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifi- 1o cation, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of station-indicators in which a series of individual tablets, each bearing the name of one station or street-crossing, are employed, said tablets being successively brought into view by means of a drum which receives them from an upper hopper or box, exposes them, and deposits them into a lower hopper or box in inverse order.

The objects of the invention are to simplify and improve the construction of the mechanism employed, whereby the efficiency and ease of manipulation are increased, and, further, to provide a machine which may be shifted from one end of the car to the other, and thehoppers or boxes of which are interchangeable, whereby they may be transposed to do away with the necessity of 'changing the tablets independently.

A further object is to so construct the indicator as that it may be operated by a projection or cam on the track with great certainty and precision, irrespective of the load on the car or the change of position of the body incident to jolting or change of load.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of an indicator and its operating mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig'. 2 is an end elevation of the actuating rod and wheel. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the center of the device. Fig. 4 is a section on the line :c Fig. 6. Fig. 5 is an end elevation, and Fig. 6 is a front elevation, of one end with the easing removed.

' Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts.

Referring particularly to Fig. l, it will be seen that the indicator proper is located Within a casing A, carried by a base-plate or frame A', which latter is wedge shape and lits in dovetail grooves formed by side pieces A2, secured rigidly to the end wall of the car, making it possible to readily remove the 5 5 whole indicator and place it in position else- Where-as, for instance, in the opposite end of the car.

On the base-plate A are secured forwardlyeextending brackets A3, )refer-ably of a 6o construction to be presently described, and in the ends of these brackets the operating shaft B is journaled, said shaft serving as the support for the drum D, which is loosely journaled thereon.

In the surface of the drum are formed a series of recesses or depressions d, each of` which at one time in the revolution of the drum comes directlyin front of the sight-opening a in the easing. Tablets or cards having the 7o names of the stations or crossings thereon are fed into these depressions from a hopper E at the top of the casing, and are dropped out of the same into a hopper E at the bottom of the easing. Thus if the tabletsare properly arranged the name of each station or crossing may be brought into view and the tablets deposited in inverse order in the lower hopper. In order, now, that it may not be necessary to remove the tablets and arrange them 8o in the upper hopper, both hoppers are made removable and interchangeable. Thus when the end of the route is reached it is only necessary for the hoppers to be exchanged or substituted one for the other to presentv the tablets in their proper relative order for the return-trip. The preferred method of attaching the hoppers is to form flanges or dovetail projections e at each side of opening, which engage co-operating recesses or grooves in the 9o casing. (See Figs. 3 and et.)

The mechanism for rotating the drum to advance the tablets is as follows: At one end of the shaft B abalaneed crank 13 is mounted, and to this crank is removably connected the upper end of the vertical operating-rod F, passing down through the car-floor and earrying a wheel or roller F', which is adapted to come in contact with suitable cams or projections f, arranged at suitable points along roo the road, and thus elevate the rod and reciprocate the shaft, the weight of the rod and wheel being relied upon to return the parts to normal position. The rod F passes through a guide f on the car, an adjustable stop, such as lock-nuts f2, being provided to limit the downward movement, and a hinge-joint f3 to permit the rod to fold up it' it encounters a projection when moving in the wrong direction or to permit it to be folded and held entirely out of the way, if desired.

A disk (or equivalent) Gis mounted rigidly on the shaft within the casing and carries two pawls h, mounted, preferably, on a common pivot and engaging ratchet-wheels H I, secured rigidly on the drum. The pawls are formed to operate in different directionsthat is to say, one will operate to turn the drum in one direction and the other to turn it in the opposite directionand the teeth on the ratchet-wheels are correspondingly formed, one tooth being provided in each wheel for each depression or tablet-recess, said teeth being so arranged with relation to each other and to the pawls as that the pawl which turns the drum forward will engage its tooth before the pawl working in the opposite direction engages its tooth. rIhus should the shaft be turned too much and the pawls elevated farther than necessary, the pawl 1l will turn the drum back and prevent the pawl h from moving two teeth at one stroke, and consequently advancing the drum far enough to indicate the wrong station, thus making it practically impossible for the tablets to be advanced out of their proper order. To release the pawl c' at the bottom of its stroke, as is necessary to permit of another independent upward movement, an arm K is secured to the base-plate and passes over the shaft and down behind the pawl in position to trip the pawl out of engagement with its ratchet-wheel just as it reaches lowest position.

The drum itself is locked in position when the tablet is exposed by a small spring-pressed catch or latch M, pivoted on the end of a forwardly-projecting stud N on the base-plate, and which engages recesses or depressions m in the end face of the drum. The catch is released by a cam or wedge projection n on the disk, which passes under the rear end of the catch as the disk rotates upward and before the pawls engage, as clearly shown in Fig. G.

Variations in the load of the car might under some circumstances cause the operating-rod to be moved upward farther than the circle described by the crank would permit, and unless some provision were made to prevent it the shaft or rod could be bent or some part of the apparatus destroyed. In order to overcome this difficulty, I propose, if desired, to support the casin g and complemental parts directly on the shaft, with a bearing against the base-plate, the shaft in this instance being mounted in bearings and capable of a vertical movement, as illustrated in Fig. 5, in which it will be seen that the lower arm of the brackets have open and vertically-elongated bearings O, and the upper arm serves merely as a retainer to hold the shaft in place. With this arrangement it will now be seen that any upward movement of the rod farther than permitted by the sweep of the crank-arm will simply elevate the shaft and prevent any injury to the operating mechanism.

Then in operation, the base-plate carrying the indicator is slipped into its guides at the forward end of the car, the tablets, of course, being arranged in their proper order in the upper hopper. The connection with the operating-rod is then made and when it rides up over the first cam or projection the pawl h is caused to advance and engage a tooth on the drum and advance the same the distance necessary to bring a tablet indicating the next stop into view, the pawl lipreventing.;` any excessive upward movement of the pawl h with relation to the drum and the cam proj ection n releasing the latch and holding it out of engagement until the drum has started in its forward rotation. At the end of the route the attendant simply has to remove the hoppers and substitute one for the other to present the tablets in proper order for the return-trip, and ifv the car is not turned bodily around he may disconnect the operating-rod, lift the whole device out of its supports, carry it to the other end of the car, and make the proper connections with the duplicate operating-rod at that end, thus`r dispensing with the necessity of employing two indicators for each car.

lVhile I have particularly described the indicator as operated by a rod moved by stationary cams or projections alongside theY track, it is obvious that any of the ordinary well-known mechanisms may be employed to give the necessary movement at the proper times, or the conductor or brakeman may operate the same by hand in the ordinary manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is l. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum having the tablet-recesses therein, mechanism for rotating the drum, and the casinghaving the sight-opening, of the interchangeable hoppers dovetailed into the'casing above and below the drum, substantially as described.

2. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum and the ratchet-wheels on said drum, having oppositely arranged teeth, of the independently-movable operating-pawls engaging said teeth to rotate the drum in opposite directions, and a stationary stop for holding one of said pawls out of engagement at one extreme of its stroke, substantially as described.

In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum and the ratchet-wheels on said drum, having oppositely-arranged teeth, of the independently-movable operating-pawls mounted on a common carrier to rotate the drum in opposite directions, and a stationary stop for holding one of said pawls ICO IIO

IIS

out of engagement at one extreme of its stroke, substantially as described.

4. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum and the ratchet-wheels thereon having the oppostely-arranged teeth, of the rotary disk carrying independentlymovable pawls for engaging said teeth, and a (i. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the shaft having the drum mounted loosely thereon, and paWl-and-ratehet connections between said drum and shaft, of the crank on the shaft, the vertical operating-rod connected to the crank, the roller on the lower end of the rod, and the cam or projection with which the roller engages to reciprocate the shaft, substantially as described.

7. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the support having the side pieces forming dovetail grooves, of the indicator-casing having the base fitting in said grooves, Whereby the casing may be removed, substantially as described.

.IOSEPII F. IIARTIGAN.

Witnesses:

T. l-I. CHALMERS, J. EDGAR WALTERS. 

